Strandbeest “Animaris Umerus” Visits Melbourne
Strandbeest “Animaris Umerus” Visits Melbourne - Vinyl Council Australia
| February 13 2012 |
| PVC tubes have become the bones and limbs of an unusual experiment in art and evolution, and are currently on display in Melbourne at Federation Square. Animaris Umerus is 12m long, 4m high and 2m wide, and comes to life, moving about the square during scheduled demonstrations. Other Strandbeests including the Animaris Ordis Mutantis can bee seen along with some “extinct” beasts in squares atrium. Dutch artist, Theo Jansen is a “kinetic sculptor” who has been driven to create new forms of nature since the early 1990’s. He has the Strandbeest consisting of skeletons constructed with PVC pipe and ‘muscles’ of PVC tubing. The beasts walk unaided like large, graceful animals with wide wings, powered by the wind. The PVC skeletal structures have evolved over several years, and today consist of 375 pieces. Jansen has refined and tested designs to come up with the most effective structures to get them moving independently. The Strandbeests have literally walked the earth, recently visiting Austria, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and the UK. Using a single ‘biological’ system, the beasts have ‘lungs’ made out of PET bottles. They feed on the wind, inhaling gusts through the PVC tubing to propel and lift the skeletal beasts along the sand. The tubing also acts as a safeguard when it reaches the water or an obstacle, through its sucking motion, triggering a change in direction. Thanks to the lightweight PVC, the Strandbeests have become a much more complex group of ‘beings’ and Jansen has been able to perfect his designs. An earlier timber model became extinct! Where: St Paul's Court & the Atrium, Federation Square, Melbourne When: 1- 26 February, 24 hours Price: Free Phone: +61 3 9655 1900 Email: info@fedsquare.com |
